How to get Convicted of Your Criminal Charges

Charges can be dropped

For most people, getting charged with a criminal offence is a nightmare.  All you want is for the charges to be dropped or withdrawn before a criminal trial is required.  No lawyer can guarantee that you will escape from the charges without a criminal record.  However, most lawyers will agree that there is certain conduct that will make it much more likely that you will be convicted.  Here are three tips on what to avoid:

• Avoid being rude to the police when you are charged or while you are in the cell block.  In many cases, if the Crown lawyer is considering dropping the charges against you, he or she will speak to the police officers on the case.  The accused who was polite and subdued during the arrest and after will have a much easier time getting the police officer to let go.
• Avoid breaches of any conditions of your release. Negotiations with the Crown attorney go better when the accused person has been well-behaved during the period of release.  If you are supposed to stay away from someone or somewhere, obey the condition.  if you are not supposed to use alcohol, don’t.   If there is a specific reason why you need to do something that your papers prevent you from doing, speak to your criminal defence lawyer, well in advance, to see if a variation of your bail conditions is possible.
• Don’t quit your job or drop out of school. If the terms of your release permit, keep your job or stay in school and try to do as well as possible.  It is a helpful negotiating tool for your lawyer to tell the Crown that you have been gainfully occupied since the charges.

If you are charged and your lawyer is going to bat for you to get the charges dropped or reduced, avoiding  these pitfalls will make your lawyer’s success much more likely.